Apple services hits 1.5 billion subs but misses Wall Street

Apple has reached 1.5 billion paid subscriptions across its platform, adding another milestone to an Apple Services business that generated record June-quarter revenue of more than $30 billion.

CEO Tim Cook disclosed the milestone during Apple’s fiscal third-quarter earnings report. Apple didn’t provide a breakdown showing how many subscriptions belong to its own services or third-party apps sold through the App Store.

The figure represents paid subscriptions rather than 1.5 billion individual customers. A single customer can hold multiple subscriptions, and multiple devices in use, across services such as iCloud, Apple Music, Apple TV, and third-party apps.

Apple’s Services division generated $30.74 billion during the June quarter, up 12% from a year earlier and setting a new June-quarter record. Revenue increased across advertising, the App Store, AppleCare, music, video, iCloud, and payment services.

The result still came in below the $31.22 billion analysts expected. Apple cited foreign exchange headwinds, but the shortfall against Wall Street’s estimate doesn’t change the division’s year-over-year growth or its new June-quarter record.

Apple Services revenue

Services generated $30.9 billion in the previous quarter, continuing the division’s steady growth beyond hardware sales. The latest result rose from $27.4 billion in the same quarter a year earlier.

Apple also has more than 2.5 billion active devices in use, giving the company a large installed base for subscriptions and other digital services. Paid and transacting accounts reached records during the previous quarter, although Apple didn’t disclose a comparable subscription count at the time.

The 1.5 billion total is more than 50% higher than the nearly one billion paid subscriptions Apple reported in 2023. The increase shows continued expansion across Apple’s subscription ecosystem even as quarterly Services revenue missed analysts’ forecast.

Services have become a major source of repeat business beyond Apple’s hardware sales. The latest milestone reinforces that growth, while the Wall Street miss shows investors are still judging the division by the revenue those subscriptions produce.